Reviving WhereNoOneHasGoneBefore

This is a basic draft of the rules for some new Legacy Tales games which will actively recruit new members to our ranks.

• This game will feature time travel, involved Trek universe politics, a metaplot to drive the action.  (See "Plot" below for more details.)
  • In order to open things up for experienced Legacy players and introduce new ones, we'll be open to all types of characters from across the Trek timeline.  This will mean cooperation from players in sorting out rank, ship position, and other things will be extremely important - and it comes down to it, I will make a final ruling on such things.  It won’t be tolerated simply because it can’t be and keep the game functional.
  • Basically, we're fixing Trek's timeline.  This means events may change from how they were shown on the series or some points of background may change if it makes better sense.
  • All Roddenberry universe characters except the ones listed in the comments are open.
    • "Roddenberry characters," mean old school, no JJ Abrams Trek.  (TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT) Please no brand spanking new Trek either - though I will take Axanar characters.  
    • Why?  I want to return to a less action-heavy, more issue-centric and canon-oriented Trek.  Also, new Trekkers - you guys will have your solo games and jamjars and such with the new series and movies coming out. 
      
    • That said, ANYTHING from that span of the Trek timeline is in play!  Characters who were on the show once?  Sure!  Special guest stars?  Bring 'em.  Someone from the books, comics, RPG lines, or some other EU source?  Probably okay, but I'll have to make sure everything works together, so run 'em by me.
  • Since this game also deals in "when" - please let me know when from the timeline your character has been ripped and deposited here.  Episode names and character moments are useful.
  • If they are an alternate version, like say, "Mirror, Mirror," or a parallel timeline, like "Yesterday's Enterprise," please note that, and be prepared to write a bit more on how alternate they are from the character we love.
  • PLEASE NOTE: if your character's canon point is past Nemesis timeline wise, (the MMO, some of the books), then your character's canon might be unique to them due to being in a unstable part of the timeline.  We'll work out something.
  • OCs are encouraged, However, OCs will likely die if the player leaves without retiring them or otherwise writing them out, as they can’t be “taken over” by another player like a Trek character.  (Giving another player permission to play them is also acceptable.)
    • All OC should be built to have connections to some organization within the existing universe.  No adapting an anime character to be a clueless newbie on board the ship.
    • OC should come in with in-universe baggage - deaths, black marks on careers, powerful and unscrupulous family members, enemies in high places, stints as a slave, and/or just plain old not fitting in.  Add at least two ongoing plot hooks to your write-up.
    • If you were on the crew of the USS Anubis, consider yourself still on board (with two exceptions, whom I will speak to privately.)
  • If you want to play a "villain" or someone not in Starfleet/proto-Starfleet, that's probably doable, but there are some characters that need to stay villainous.  ProTips: If you're a Klingon, good or bad, you're probably fine.  However, at least one good guy won't be as they appear.
• Recruitment is going to be "invite, plus one or two."  Meaning, if you are a Legacy Player already or someone who has recieved an invite from an admin, you are approved.  No app required.  If you have been recruited, then you may invite 1-2 other players you believe would fit in here.  Those 1-2 will not be able to invite more until we are more established.
  • If your plus one is used to jamjars, dressing rooms, and games which have minimal consequences then I want to talk them first.  It's not that I don't trust your judgment.  It's that I run games that aren't that brand of casual.  Think of this more like a bunch of personal storyline RPs being moved along due to extreme circumstances even by Trek universe standards.
  • I don't expect you to have an encyclopedia-level knowledge of Trek.  I do expect you to canon review your characters and maybe some episodes of books if they deal with your character, your character's culture, etc. and to ask if you don't know.
  • A starting game with a lot of new players requires a large amount of goodwill and openness. The same rules in the Legacy FAQ about passive aggression firmly apply here.  
• Most Legacy Tales games have a "no OCs unless you play a canon character first" rule.  This will not apply to this games.
  • Please do not bring in an OC you hope to have published someday.  It's not going to work out for anyone involved.
  • However, if you desire to pick up a character in another Legacy Tales game, new players here must ask and abide by the request of the admin team for those games and I will be excuse myself from those decisions just to keep everything fair.
  • Even though content on the main com will stick to PG-13, all players need to be 18+.  Sorry, we cannot make exceptions on that.
  • There will be no activity checks - ever.
  • That said, everything will be read by at least one other person.
  • Players are expected to be active participants in advocating for their characters and overseeing their long-term development.
  • If you are new, please eventually read the FAQ and standard Legacy Tales rules.
• Plot
  • Metaplot
    • Someone or something has been tinkering with the quantum strings which make most sentient beings experience time.  The Guardian of Forever has gone silent and others, like the Prophets and the Q are very nervous.  (Yes, the Temporal Cold War in Enterprise is part of this, but that's one section of a big problem.)
    • There's been a growing number of "patches" applied to the universe in terms of time being out of whack.  Nothing anyone would notice unless you were the kind of quantum physicist who would notice and have access to the statistical data...and actually grasp time being relative while being in it.
    • In fact, time has gotten looped.  Right now, it's a pretty big loop - around 350-400 years, but it's shrinking - and fast.  Within a generation, everyone subject to the effects of time will be trapped like insects in amber.
    • The various Intelligence agencies have been keeping a tight lid on the subject, though one of their number, Captain Jules Ray, has broken her silence and gone rogue.
    • More details are available on request, but it will be spoiler-city and subject to change based on character actions.
    • Section 31 is not your friend.  The Department of Temporal Investigations is, at best, the janitorial staff.  At worst, they're like those "civilian" NPCs in video games that stand in the crossfire.
  • Other plots
    • We will have ships in a barely explored portion of the galaxy and will be doing classic alien/issue of the week stories.
    • Ship-wide events will happen from time to time.
    • A whole lot of personal and small team storyline stuff to fit into the bigger plot.

And finally an offer, or warning, depending on how you look at it.  I promise everyone, and I do mean everyone, will get crowning moments of awesome, but there's a certain set of characters who are needed to pull off the metaplot and as a result are going to get some BIG moments.  The one drawback is that, sometimes, your character will suffer for it, and some of these effects won't just disappear when the immediate plot wraps.  (I might also need you to have your character do something specific for a plot point, but I will work with you to make this as in character as possible.)  The following characters will have some big moments.

• TOS:  James T. Kirk, Spock, Nyota Uhura, Christine Chapel
• TNG:  Data, Wesley Crusher
• ENT:  Trip Tucker, T'Pol, Jonathan Beckett Archer
• DS9:  Odo, Julian Bashir, Elim Garrick
• VOY: Tom Paris and probably more pending canon review.
• Any OC stupid/brave enough to have been on the 1701-C.
• Anyone who has a character who is highly involved with politics or connected to a politically involved family.
• Anyone closely connected to the Borg or any Intelligence agency - especially the Tal Shiar or (Gods help you) Section 31.
• Members of the extended Soong clan - human, cybernetic, or (possibly) engineered.
• Races other than the really common ones we saw on the shows.  Looking to give extra love to them.

(Rules: Version 2)